Trading ashes in for Beauty....

Even more..

2008-10-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

My nephew and his little sister!

Trees in Indiana in the Spring time!

More fun pics!

2008-10-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

My oldest niece on my parents farm!

My nephew playing near a pond!

My sister and her youngest daughter.

My niece and nephew playing.

Garden near my apartment.

Favorite Pictures

2008-10-10T14:48:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely in love with photography! These are some of my favorite pics that I have taken!

Sis

2008-10-10T14:43:00.000-07:00

My youngest sister came to visit over my birthday! It was a lot of fun and a good break from all of the stress I had going on. She has all the funny pics on her camera so I will have to post those later!

Alicia and I

Alicia, Snugglebug and I(Snugglebug found it necessary to be in every pic!)

My sisters and I

My summer...

2008-10-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

Summer has come and gone....I know but here is what mine looked like! I was a nanny for Ad and Em during the summer and we spent a lot of time in the pool! Not that I minded. The most hilarious thing that they come up with was stuffing water balloons in their swimsuits! I thought I was going to die laughing! It was sooooo funny! You can tell by the pics the fun that they had!

Ad, Em and I in the pool

Ad, Em and their friend Peyton with the water balloons in their swiwsuits!

Em and Ad at VBS!

Over the past 6 months...

2008-10-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

Over the past few months a lot has been going on. For whatever reasons me trying to post pictures has been difficult! So here is the update. I have celebrated birthdays, had a random cat visit my house which my dog found humorous, and walked with my friend Janice in the Susan B. Komen walk for a cure! Janice has been battling StageIV cancer for about 8 months now and was able to make it for the walk! It was fun "racing" her and the other participants who were also in wheelchairs!

Reagan and I at her birthday

The girls and I (I am taking the pic) celebrating Darci's Birthday

Random visiting cat!

Janice and her posse of support on the 5K run/walk!

Morning Wake Up Call!

2008-04-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

So, I don't like creepy, crawly, slithering critters. If I had a choice I would choose crawling ones but none of them work for me. But being suddenly awakened by a roach on my kitchen counter woke me up faster than a double espresso from Starbucks. I am not a morning person at all. I am lucky to grunt and groan my way through my morning routine so to have it interrupted was not anticipated! I was minding my own business as I got breakfast ready when I disturbed the sleeping varmint. I don't scream easily but I screamed this time and my dog came running to see what was up. So here I am jumping like a little Mexican Jumping Bean around my kitchen trying quickly decide what I was going to do next. Armed with Lysol and Pledge (sorry it was the only chemicals that I could aim at the little bugger...I don't invite the pests in so I don't keep a supply of Raid on hand!)...I took action trying to just stun it enough so I could pick it up and get rid of it. Laugh if you will but the whole time I had to keep telling myself.."Be Brave...You can do it...I am brave..I am brave!" The little maggot crawled all over the counter and then into a box that I have there. That was the ultimate. Now I couldn't see it and that scared the crap out of me! I found him, scared him out of his hole where I was finally able to hose him down with some more Lysol and left him gasping for breath. The rest is history and he was flushed down the toilet! Then I looked at the clock and realized how much time I had wasted on the little bugger and scrambled to get out the door and to my 8am class on time! Since I was wide awake at this point it made it just a little easier!

You know you are on a college campus when.....

2008-03-16T17:10:00.000-07:00

#1. Someone is walking on campus in their barefeet!
#2. As you pull up at a red light near campus, in the car next to you there is a guy eating a full bowl of cereal milk, spoon and all!

Sicker than a dog....

2008-01-30T10:51:00.000-08:00

This week was brought abruptly to a halt when I got sick. Saturday morning I woke up coughing and didn't think too much of it until the afternoon when I spiked a high fever and couldn't hardly walk because I ached so much. I went to the Doctor on Monday and found out a had a severe sinus infection and also got treated for pneumonia. YUCK! I have missed work and classes this week and will have to catch up next week on everything. It is crazy but I had to get and excuse slip from my Doctor for one of my professors...I thought I wasn't in high school anymore!:) Today is the first day that I am feeling any kind of release from any symptoms. It is enough to drive me crazy just remembering when I took the last dose of meds and when the next ones are. I have a mirror in my kitchen that I have written on with dry erase marker to keep track and that has helped. I don't even remember the last time that I was this sick that it put me out for a full week! I even had a friend bear my sickies with me last night as she brought me dinner and hung out to eat with me. She was really brave but I thank her for it! I was getting tired of movies and I haven't been in the mood to read....only to sleep...and throwing things at my dog to shut her up!

Prayer!

2008-01-24T20:10:00.000-08:00

Tonight my friend Kim came over to visit with her dog Tut. We hung out and chatted about what was new in our lives and what areas God is wanting us to improve on. We get together often and pray before we part ways and tonight was no different. Only this time the dogs decided that they wanted to join in the fun! As we sat and prayed together Starbucks, my dog, sat between us with her head on Kim's lap and Tut, who is the larger of the 2 dogs, stayed on the floor and looked Starbucks in the eyes. Neither one of them moved the whole time we prayed which was hilarious. Most of the night they we fighting over toys or playing with us. They must have thought that if they stayed quiet long enough we would take them out for a walk. They did get to go out but just to walk Kim and Tut to their car and then I high tailed it back inside, dragging Starbucks behind! Way too cold to stay out long!

New Favorite Quote!

2008-01-23T17:05:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I saw some guy on a motorcyle with a shirt that read:

"3 can keep a secret if 2 of them are dead!" Cracked me up! It is my new favorite quote!

A new semester!

2008-01-17T11:57:00.000-08:00

This is my second semester of classes and it is already off to a great start! I have only been taking 2 classes partly because of how much financial aid I received and the rest because I thought that I would be shooting myself in the foot if I took any more! Last semester was good but I think this semester will be even better. I am having to take Texas government and I have a hilarious prof this semester! I don' t think that it will be as boring as I had thought and I might actually learn something! Go figure! The other class that I am taking is a counseling class in play therapy. I LOVE IT! The first day of class we had to draw and color! How awesome is that! I had already picked up the professor in play therapy's book about a year ago when I took an interest in play therapy and now I get to read it again. I can't wait until we get to do observations at the Play Therapy Center on campus. It will be a crazy semester as I work full time and take classes part time but the learning part will be a total blast! I can't believe I am saying this but government might actually be fun!

Chillin and having a good read!

2008-01-08T16:12:00.000-08:00

This is what I call a good read! Skylar fell asleep during her naptime reading Elmo! Too funny!

Celebrating New Years!

2008-01-08T15:56:00.001-08:00

This year I celebrated with my friends from Covenant Church! We spent the evening in Addison listening to the comedian Tim Hawkins and then dancing the night away! Fun times! Thanks Freakin' friend Fran for making me feel like a Princess!

Posing!

2007-12-25T15:23:00.000-08:00

My sister's youngest is known for her facial expressions-note that she is only 2 1/2 yrs old! She is hilarious! As we all took turns talking with our parents, my niece decided that she wanted to become an actress! She would pose and then tell me to take a picture! She would say.."No wait....Ummm...No wait...Okay...Take a picture of me!" She never ran out of poses!

Talking with my mom on the phone! Although she has the headset on she is talking into the phone!

Pose #1

Pose #2

And the final pose!

Christmas Day Festivities!

2007-12-25T15:08:00.000-08:00

Today I spent Christmas at my sister's house! I told my oldest niece that she could call me and get me out of bed so I could rush over and open presents! Fortunately it wasn't 4am like my niece said it would be. She threatened to set her alarm for that early! Seriously! Had it been that early I would have just stayed up because I didn't get home from Janice's until late anyway! The phone rang and they wanted to know how long it would be before I arrived. I said 20 minutes (my sister said she was going back to bed until I got there!). So armed with Starbucks coffee in hand, I grabbed my coat and headed out! It was so nice to have stayed in my jammies all day! My oldest niece commented to me later on in the day that I still had my PJs on and I had no comment. I don't even remember the last time I was able to have a PJ day and enjoy coffee ALL DAY LONG! Oh the simple pleasures! It was great to spend time with them, read and of course did I mention drink coffee!

My nephew wanted a Webkinz for Christmas and he couldn't be prouder of it!

Is that Hannah Montana?

Remember the stocking I brought over? Look at it compared to my sister's youngest! It was filled alright! With balls, bags and a few goodies! He he he!

My nieces and nephew and I!

Christmas Eve

2007-12-25T15:02:00.000-08:00

Last night I "partied" at my friend Janice's house! It was a lot of fun and I was able to catch up with all of my teaching friends that I taught with at Carpe Diem. Janice looked great in her Mrs. Claus apron! So festive! I loved it!

Reaghan and Sirena

Kate and Janice

Janice and Sirena

Janice and I

The gang! Kate, Janice, Reaghan, Sirena, Me, Patti

Christmas Decorations!

2007-12-25T14:59:00.000-08:00

Some of you have been asking me what my place looks like for Christmas so I took a few pictures to post! Here you go!

Santa!

2007-12-25T14:55:00.000-08:00

Starbucks was given this Santa as a Christmas present and she has been carrying it everywhere with her. Right before I took this picture she was snuggling with him! And I thought Santa only used elves! Hmmmm.....

2007-12-23T17:41:00.000-08:00

Here are some more recent pictures of the girls I nanny for! They are too cute not to post! Their mom just had another little girl who actually came home from the hospital this weekend so as soon as I take pictures I will post them! I am taking pictures for the baby announcements so I will probably just post thoses. I am really excited! Photography is so much fun!

Lady Starbucks!

2007-12-23T17:17:00.000-08:00

Starbucks is just chilling in her favorite chair! She loves to cuddle with the blanket and usually a toy. I am going to try to get a better picture because when she catches me taking pictures she immediately thinks its playtime! And usually her quiet time(when she is taking time away from barking at the neighbors) is when I am getting ready in the mornings!

Stocking!

2007-12-23T17:06:00.001-08:00

This year I will be spending Christmas with my sister and her family! So since I will be here I was told that I needed to supply my own stocking! So my sarcastic little self did just that!

Favorite Things!

2007-12-17T18:06:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of my favorite things:

1. STARBUCKS COFFEE
2. My nieces and nephews faces lighting up when I come over
3. My 2 year old niece calling me "Keanie"
4. Good Hair Days!
5. Snow(even though we don't get much of it in TX)
6. Driving around town in my car
7. Music
8. Calls from my friends in IN
9. Red and Blue
10. Popcorn(one of the main food groups!)

My job!

2007-12-16T18:24:00.000-08:00

To catch everyone up, I quit my teaching job and am now working as a nanny. I am working full time and going to school part time to finish my bachelors and then onto my master's! Ultimately I want a degree in play and art therapy with kiddos! I nanny for a family that has a set of twin girls. The twins are going to be 2 years old at the end of this month and crack me up everyday.

Christmas Already!

2007-12-16T18:15:00.000-08:00

My brother and his girlfriend came to visit this weekend and brought presents from Mom and Dad since I won't be traveling to Indiana this year for the holidays! So we had Christmas a little early! At least part of it. My nieces and nephews enjoyed tearing through the presents faster than you could say Merry Christmas! I got to hide part of their presents because they weren't wrapped and you would have thought a marathon was in full swing as the kiddos raced to find their presents. The cutest thing my mom gave me was a toy and treats for my dog, Starbucks! My dog will love them especially since I won't be home until later tonight to take her out of her kennel! Then she will forgive me after she gets her treats!